The new mayor takes office days after the beheading of his predecessor

A new mayor was sworn in Thursday in a southern Mexican city where his predecessor was. murdered and beheaded less than a week after taking office.

The new mayor, Gustavo Alarcón, a doctor, had been elected as a substitute on the same ticket as the late mayor Alejandro Arcos in the June elections.

Arcos took office Oct. 1 in the violence-ravaged city of Chilpancingo, capital of the southern state of Guerrero. His decapitated body was found on Sunday in a van; his head had been placed on the roof of the vehicle. Two rival drug gangs fight for control of the city.

Alarcón was sworn in Thursday with minimal security of a handful of police officers. He pledged to “work for the good of all” and fight against the violence that has plagued Chilpancingo for years.

Before he was killed, Arcos had told local media that he needed more protection, but officials said no formal request had been received. State and federal governments can offer mayors bulletproof vehicles, additional bodyguards and emergency alert systems. It was unclear whether Alarcón had been granted that type of protection.

Arcos' murder occurred days after the murder of another municipal official, Francisco Tapia, according to the president of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Alejandro Moreno.

“They had been in office for less than a week. Young and honest officials who sought progress for their community.” Moreno said in X.

Chilpancingo, a city of about 300,000 people, is dominated by two warring drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. One of them organized a demonstration of hundreds of people, hijacked a government armored vehicle, blocked a major highway, and took police hostage in 2023 to secure the release of arrested suspects.

Earlier this week, Federal Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said four mayors from other towns in Mexico had requested protection on Monday, a day after Arcos' remains were found. The requests came from Guerrero and another violence-plagued state, Guanajuato.

“The war on drugs will not return”

The situation in Guanajuato is so bad that before the country's June elections, at least four mayoral candidates were murdered.

In June, Acacia Flowersrepresenting Malinaltepec, was murdered a few days after the murder of Salvador Villalba Floresanother mayor of the state of Guerrero elected in the June 2 elections. At the beginning of the month, a native councilor She was shot dead as she left her home in Guerrero.

Her murder occurred a few days after the mayor of a town in western Mexico and her bodyguard were murdered outside a gymjust a few hours later claudia sheinbaum won the presidency.

But violence in Guerrero reached such unprecedented levels that earlier this year, Catholic bishops announced they had helped arrange a truce in another part of the state between two warring drug cartels.

At the time, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who refused to confront the gangs, said he approved of such talks.

“Priests and pastors and members of all the churches have participated, they have helped to pacify the country. I think it's very good,” said López Obrador, who left office on September 30.

Sheinbaum on Tuesday ruled out launching a new war against drug cartels and presented a national security plan aimed at reducing criminal violence.

Sheinbaum, the first woman to lead the Latin American nation, said her government would prioritize addressing the root causes of crime as well as making better use of intelligence.

“The war on drugs will not return,” the leftist president said at a press conference, referring to an offensive launched in 2006 with the participation of the military and supported by the United States.

AFP contributed to this report.